How to fix communication errors on Altivar drives and Soft Starters? (ETHF, CNF, COF, SLF1, INFM)
Hello, today we will show you how to solve some communication errors on Altivar drives and Soft Starters.
In this video, we will use an ATV600 but the troubleshooting is also valid for the other products (ATV600, ATV900, ATV320, ATV340 and ATS480).
Depending on the used Fieldbus module, embedded or option, these errors could be triggered by the product:
ETHF, CNF, COF, SLF1 or INFM.
These errors are the result of a communication interruption.
We will help you understand and solve these communication errors.
First, it’s very important to check when the error is triggered.
Case 1: At least one motor is running in your application,
or case 2: Error happens even if all motors are stopped.
Case #1: Error happens when at least one motor is running.
If a communication error is triggered only when at least one motor is running, it may be an EMC disturbance.
You must check that the wiring rules are followed.
These wiring rules are provided with details in the Installation manual of the ATV600.
You can download it on www.SE.com
To summarize, to avoid EMC disturbance, it is mandatory to connect the motor cable shield to the ground.
Both the product and the PLC must be connected to the ground.
The shielding of the motor cable must be connected to the EMC plate of the product.
The shielding of the Fieldbus cable must be connected to the EMC plate of the product and to the PLC.
There may be additional cabling rules according to the Fieldbus used.
For example, using the PROFIBUS, CANopen or Modbus, you must check the line terminator,
the length of the bus and the number of the slaves.
For more information, please refer to the guide for each module on www.SE.com
Case #2 : Error happens even if all motors are stopped.
If the communication error is triggered even when your application is not running, follow these instructions:
The first point to check is the line resistor for CANopen, PROFIBUS, Serial Modbus or BACnet.
The second point is to check the timeout settings.
If you are using Ethernet or Serial Modbus, this timeout can be adjusted on product side
using the Graphic Display Terminal or SoMove.
Let’s see the example with SoMove.
Connect to the device.
To check the timeout using Serial Modbus, go to the 'Parameters List' tab.
Click on 'Port - Modbus Serial' in the Fieldbus menu.
Increase the [Modbus timeout] TTO.
Always verify that the new setting is suitable for your application
and cannot result in hazard due to delayed time detection.
Disconnect the device.
For Ethernet, go to the 'Parameters List' tab.
On the Fieldbus menu, click on the 'Port - Modbus TCP' drop-down menu.
In 'Protocol & Device Profiles', change the 'Holdup Time'.
Click on 'Confirm' to apply the change to the device.
Disconnect SoMove and restart the drive.
For other protocols such as PROFINET, PROFIBUS and CANopen, the timeout is set by the PLC.
Let’s take the example of CANopen with the Machine Expert Software.
Open your project.
Click on your drive in the 'CANopen_Performance' tab.
In the 'General' section, check 'Enable Expert Settings'.
On the 'Nodeguarding' drop-down menu, increase the 'Guard Time' and the 'Life Time Factor'.
Always verify that the new setting is suitable for your application
and cannot result in hazard due to delayed time detection.
Save your project and download the new program to the PLC.
Now let’s see the example with PROFINET.
Open the Hardware Configuration of your application.
Select your drive and go to the interface.
To change the timeout here called the 'Watchdog time', you must increase the 'Update time'
and the 'Number of accepted update cycles with missing IO data'.
The 'Watchdog time' (timeout) is updated automatically.
Click on the 'OK' button.
Save the configuration and click on 'Download to module'.
The last point to check is to make sure that the control word and/or the target frequency are written cyclically by the PLC.
Here, we can see an example of drive control, using Modbus Serial communication.
In EcoStruxure Control Expert, open the PLC bus in the configuration of your project.
Open the ATV_Modbus_Control_Program and the table of the program in the 'Animation Tables' tab.
In this example, it’s a single write request. It writes the control word and the reference once.
The motor is starting and the product triggers an error.
In the PLC program, we change the write request from 'single write' to 'cyclic write'.
Start the motor. The Drive_in_Fault value remains at 0 and the RUN_Drive status changes to 1.
Save the configuration.
If you need more information about communication protocol, please refer to the concerned fieldbus manual on www.SE.com
If intempestive error triggering persists, please contact your local SE representative.
Thank you for watching. For more information, please visit our website.